Travis: We continued to prioritize giving back in our adult lives by always setting aside money to give. Serving your community can take many forms, whether that’s devoting time or donating money. We always think about ways we can help causes that are important to us.
As parents, how do you balance your personal and professional life while still finding time to serve your community?
Travis: We feel there’s no better way to start teaching your kids about service than to do it with them. When our sons were younger, we both served as Cub Scout Den Leaders, and I’ve served as scoutmaster for their Boy Scout troop for the past five years. I also coached many youth sports teams, and we both served terms on our school district’s Foundation board. Now, I serve on their PTO, while Julie helped start the local chapter of the Young Men’s Service League, an organization for high school boys and their moms, where she also serves as president.
Julie: It’s rewarding to watch our sons learn to enjoy serving others. Since we both work, we know we can’t be at every event they have at school, so serving with them is our tradition. This past summer, I took our oldest son, Mason ’29, to Guatemala on a medical mission trip, and this upcoming summer, I plan on bringing Mason and our middle son, Jake, to participate.
What motivates you to continue serving Texas A&M as former students?
Julie: The academic scholarship I received made a huge difference in my ability to afford college, and I remember telling Travis that I wanted to pay it forward someday when we could. Even living on loans in medical school, I made it a point to give to The Association of Former Students every year. Once I’d been in private practice for a few years, we reached a place financially where creating an endowed scholarship through the Texas A&M Foundation felt possible. We funded the scholarship over a five-year period instead of a lump sum, which allowed us to create it sooner than we otherwise could have.
